Brighton Main Line

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brighton Main Line

Legend South Eastern Main Line to Charing Cross, Blackfriars, Thameslink, and Cannon Street London Victoria London Bridge Spa Road Victoria carriage sidings Southwark Park Grosvenor Bridge over River Thames Battersea Park to North Kent Line West London Line to Kent Coast SWML to Waterloo Chatham Main Line to Kent Coast to London Bridge Inner South London Line East London Line Clapham Junction New Cross Gate SWT suburban lines Nunhead to Lewisham link Shepperton, Hounslow Loop, Brockley Windsor line and Reading Catford Loop Line SWML to the South West Honor Oak Park Wandsworth Common Forest Hill Sydenham Balham Outer South London Line Chatham Main Line to Streatham Hill to Sutton Sutton & Mole Valley Line Penge West to London Bridge Anerley Streatham Common to Birkbeck Norbury to Crystal Palace Thornton Heath Norwood Junction Selhurst Selhurst Depot Sutton & Mole Valley Line to West Croydon East Croydon sidings East Croydon South Croydon Oxted Line to East Grinstead Purley Oaks and Uckfield Purley Tattenham Corner Line Caterham Line "Quarry line" Coulsdon North Coulsdon South Hooton Tunnels M23 motorway M25 motorway Merstham Redhill North Downs Line to Reading Redhill to Tonbridge Line Redhill sidings "Quarry line" Earlswood Salfords Horley Gatwick Airport Three Bridges Arun Valley Line to Horsham Three Bridges works to Tunbridge Wells Central Three Bridges sidings Three Bridges sidings Three Bridges sidings M23 motorway Balcombe Ouse Valley Viaduct River Ouse Closed line Aggregates site to Horsted Keynes (formerly Ardingly station) Haywards Heath Wivelsfield East Coastway Line to Hastings Burgess Hill Hassocks Clayton Tunnel Patcham Tunnel Preston Park Brighton carriage sidings to Hastings West Coastway Line East Coastway Line Brighton

The Brighton Main Line is the British railway line from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. The route is approximately 50 miles (80 km) in length. It is operated by Southern and First Capital Connect and is electrified throughout. Several other operators Gatwick Express, South Eastern Trains and Cross Country also operate on certain parts of the route.

Contents 1 History of the line 1.1 Electrification 2 Services 3 Branching routes 4 Notes 5 External links 6 References

[edit] History of the line

There were no fewer than six original proposals to build a railway between London and Brighton: the London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) emerged with an Act of Parliament of 15 July 1837. The scheme was to build a line from a junction with the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) (with its terminus at London Bridge) to Brighton, with two branches: one to Newhaven, the other to Shoreham-by-Sea.

Opening took place as follows:

12 May 1840: Brighton to Shoreham-by-Sea (all the materials for the line having arrived by sea.)

12 July 1841: Norwood Junction, London (L&CR) to Haywards Heath.

21 September 1841: the final section from Haywards Heath to Brighton.

The Newhaven section did not materialise until 1846, when the Brighton - Hastings line opened. Also in 1846 the L&CR and L&BR amalgamated; the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) came into being. In 1860 the line between London Victoria and Balham opened, and the Brighton Main Line was completed in 1862.

In the early days, the LB&SCR and the South Eastern Railway (SER) had been forced by an Act of Parliament to share the route southwards from London as far as Redhill. This caused a great deal of friction, since Redhill was an SER station, and quarrels broke out between the two companies to the extent that the LB&SCR built an avoiding line between Coulsdon North and Earlswood which became known as the Quarry Line, still used by fast trains avoiding Redhill. It was opened on 8 November 1899 (1 April 1900 for passenger traffic).

[edit] Electrification

The LB&SCR began electrification of its lines on 1 December 1909 when its South London Line was equipped with high-tension single-phase system with overhead conductors; within three years many more of its suburban services were converted. After the 1923 grouping the main line as far as Coulsdon North came into use using overhead conductors, but the new Southern Railway had by now decided upon the third-rail system, as adopted by another of its constituents, the London and South Western Railway. In 1928/29 the entire network was converted to third rail operation, and subsequent conversion followed on that basis. The third rail system is electrified at 750V DC and underwent a recent power supply upgrade prior to the introduction of the new Electrostar stock operated by Southern

Dates of electrification were are follows:

• 12 May 1911: Victoria – Balham – (Crystal Palace)
• June 1912: Balham – Selhurst
• 1 April 1925: Selhurst – Coulsdon North
• July 1932: Coulsdon North – Three Bridges
• 1 January 1933: Three Bridges – Brighton (and also to West Worthing)

[edit] Services

There are now many more trains from Victoria to Brighton than from London Bridge: a reversal of the original services. The line is four-tracked, except along the Quarry Line, the section through the Balcombe Tunnel between Three Bridges and Haywards Heath, and from Haywards Heath to Preston Park which passes through Clayton Tunnel south of Hassocks.

The fastest services from Brighton to Victoria stop only at East Croydon and Clapham Junction, though some "express" services also call at Gatwick Airport. First Capital Connect services from Brighton to London Bridge using the Thameslink route continue across London to Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and St Pancras, and then on to Luton and Bedford.

[edit] Branching routes

From Victoria, the following other services use the Line, but branch off where shown:

• at Battersea Park, the South London Line to London Bridge
• at Balham, where the line via Crystal Palace diverges
• at South Croydon, the Oxted Line
• at Purley, the Caterham and Tattenham Corner Lines
• at Redhill, the branch to Reigate and the North Downs Line to the west; and the Tonbridge line to the east
• at Three Bridges, the Arun Valley Line services to Portsmouth; here was also the line to East Grinstead, closed 1967
• at Haywards Heath, the line via Ardingly and Horsted Keynes, closed 28 October 1963: Currently Network Rail Sidings to Ardingly only; Horsted Keynes section is now part of the Bluebell Railway
• at Wivelsfield (Keymer Junction), the East Coastway Line to Eastbourne and Hastings via Lewes
• at Preston Park, the West Coastway Line service to Littlehampton, avoiding Brighton
• at Brighton, the West Coastway Line; and the East Coastway Line to Eastbourne and Hastings and also to Seaford all via Falmer

[edit] Notes

• The current fast service running between Brighton and London is 55 Minutes, which is 5 minutes faster than in 1953 ^[1]

[edit] External links

• London to Brighton in two minutes - time-lapse video.

[edit] References

v • d • e Railway lines in South-East England: Eastern  (Kent) Primary Routes: High Speed 1 · Chatham Main Line · South Eastern Main Line Secondary Lines: Ashford-Ramsgate via Canterbury Line · East Coastway · Hastings Line · Kent Coast Line · Maidstone East Line Minor/Branch Lines: Bexleyheath Line · Bromley North Line · Catford Loop · Dartford Loop · Greenwich Line · Hayes Line · Marshlink Line · Medway Valley Line · Mid-Kent Line · North Kent Line · Nunhead to Lewisham link · Sheerness Line Central  (Sussex) Primary Routes: Arun Valley Line · Brighton Main Line · Thameslink Secondary Lines: East Coastway · New Guildford Line · North Downs Line · Redhill-Tonbridge Line · Sutton & Mole Valley Line · West Coastway Minor/Branch Lines: Caterham Line · Epsom Downs Branch · Oxted Line · Seaford Branch Line · South London Line · Tattenham Corner Line Western  (Wessex) Primary Routes: North Downs Line · Portsmouth Direct Line · South Western Main Line · West Coastway · West of England Main Line Secondary Lines: Alton Line · Ascot-Guildford Line · Chertsey Branch · Eastleigh-Fareham Line · Eastleigh-Romsey Line · Hounslow Loop · Kingston Loop Line · Waterloo-Reading Line · West London Line Minor/Branch Lines: Chessington Branch · Greenford Branch · Hampton Court Branch · Henley Branch Line · Island Line · Lymington Branch Line · Marlow Branch Line · Shepperton Branch Line · Slough-Windsor & Eton Line · Staines-Windsor & Eton Line Northern  (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire) Primary Routes: West Coast Main Line · Chiltern Main Line Secondary Lines: London to Aylesbury Line · Cherwell Valley Line · Cotswold Line Minor/Branch Lines: Marston Vale Line · Oxford to Bicester Line · Princes Risborough to Aylesbury Line · Varsity Line (currently partially disused)